Legend has it that the church of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy, stood unfinished and roofless until April 25, 1467 when the image of the Madonna was miraculously transported there. The painting was formerly in Scutari, Albania where it had been loved and revered for many centuries.

The first pilgrims who came to Genazzano to see the painting were two men with a very remarkable story to tell. While praying at a Shrine of Our Lady in Scutari, they saw the picture remove itself from the wall of the church. They watched in amazement as it rose into the air. High in the sky it was wrapped in a cloud and vanished from their sight. They tried to follow the image. They searched everywhere for it until they heard a rumor of a new picture at Genazzano. The two men hurried there and found the holy picture.

The image, 12 inches wide and 17 inches high, was painted on a sheet of plaster so thin that it would have been difficult for any human hand to remove it without damage.

In 1753, Pope Benedict XIV established the pious union of Our Mother of Good Counsel to promote devotion to Mary under this title. It survived the subsequent centuries through several earthquakes and withstood the bombing during World War II. For nearly 550 years, the devotion to our Mother of Good Counsel has flourished and grown.